4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 10, 2020

River of No Return is nearly worthwhile for its opening visuals alone. There stands the vestige of American manhood: Robert Mitchum — unmistakably himself — felling a tree. He pulls off his hat, wipes his brow, and we get a gorgeous lingering look at his backyard. God’s majesty as   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 8, 2020

Below the Mexican border, during Antebellum days, a diverse array of Americans find themselves in the middle of the fight against Maximillian of France. Vera Cruz is far from a history lesson, however. It need not be. Still, it plays as an important footnote in a different type of history...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 3, 2020

Burl Ives, knocking out the title ballad in his instantly recognizable tones, is the welcome mat laid out by the film. The setting is slightly novel. High in the hills and mountainous crags is the crib for our story. Sierra gives numerous hints at its modest budgeting. This is no...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 1, 2020

The Violent Men is an age-old tale of cattle wars on the range. The local apothecary warns about Wilkerson a man from the long tradition of land eaters. There are only two choices: run or stand and fight. Before we ever see him, his cronies are messing around town. In...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 27, 2020

Armed with black and white and rolling plains full of instantly recognizable western exteriors, Lonely Are The Brave goes for an intimate approach. The camera focuses on a man splayed out with his hat tipped over his eyes in slumber. This could have been out of many earlier pictures up...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 25, 2020

“I think it’s high time for this state to remember its history!” – Van Heflin The whistling intro to Gunman’s Walk is one of the most insouciant beginnings to a western you might ever see. Regrettably, the opening lines of dialogue, penned by Frank S. Nugent, don&#8217   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 20, 2020

The action begins with a chase of sorts, except with the men pursuing a buckboard, carrying a woman and a young boy, it’s more like a game of cat-and-mouse. As a Native American maiden and a pretty one at that, they look to have their way with her. A horrible...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 18, 2020

On first glance, The Raid feels like a punchier, B-grade version of John Ford’s The Horse Soldiers (1959). In time, it winds up being a fairly apt descriptor. The fact that the other Civil War piece is a lumbering giant gives The Raid an unpretentious edge. Because in the casting...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 12, 2020

Julie London provides her airy voice to the title track and Elmer Bernstein gives his scoring talents for the rest of the picture. In these beginning moments, Saddle the Wind evokes the expanse of the majestic landscapes of the West like the best of its brethren. There is a sense...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 10, 2020

“We might be the only two honest men in town.” – Audie Murphy as John Gant Audie Murphy had the added reputation of being a hero in real life, and so it hardly hurt him in his efforts to portray valorous protagonists on the big screen. However, despite being a...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 8, 2020

Although she probably wouldn’t like it one bit, with the recent passing of Olivia de Havilland, it seems necessary to acknowledge her sister and fellow actress Joan Fontaine. Their sibling rivalry became the stuff of legend when they were vying for the same Oscars throughout the 1940s. What Fo   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 5, 2020

There are few better ways to get yourself into the spirit of a western than the majestic gusto of Frankie Laine (self-parodied in hilarious fashion by Blazing Saddles). It’s the segue into a mythical world. I assumed Kirk Douglas would be the fellow lacking a tin star. And yet the title...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 3, 2020

“There’s always somebody faster.” – Walter Baldwin as a Blind Man The Fastest Gun Alive chooses to reveal its threat before it offers up anything else. A hulking Broderick Crawford rides into a no-name town flanked by two cronies. He yells into the saloon for some man to com   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 1, 2020

With the recent passing of Olivia de Havilland — one of the last living ties to some of the Golden Age of Hollywood’s hallowed classics — it seemed fitting  to acknowledge her talents in our latest classic movie beginner’s guide. Her most visible role was that of Melanie in G   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 30, 2020

“The only feelings mankind inspires in policemen are indifference and scorn.” – Eugène     François Vidocq Some of the great filmmakers are not great because they document a reflection of the world. More so they bend the world unto their own artistic vision, allowing us to see lan   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 30, 2020

“The only feelings mankind inspires in policemen are indifference and scorn.” – Eugène     François Vidocq Some of the great filmmakers are not great because they document a reflection of the world. More so they bend the world unto their own artistic vision, allowing us to see lan   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 28, 2020

“In this job you either end up poor or riddled with bullets.” – Jean-Paul Belmondo Director Jean-Pierre Melville has an impeccable gift for taking the most mundane actions and behaviors and making them so compelling. In the opening notes of Le Doulos, we have an ordinary man strol   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 25, 2020

Screwball comedies, like film noir, have a fairly devoted following and although they were very much of their time, they still have descendants and influences on the movies coming out today. Many of the heavy hitters from the 30s and 40s are household names, but I thought it would be...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 22, 2020

“If there’s one thing I despise it’s an indispensable woman.” – Albert Finney The world seemed a very different place in 1967. It had changed and with it, love and the romantic comedy underwent a transformation of its own. Because, in some sense, humanity had reached a   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on July 20, 2020

Note: This post was written soon after the passing of Stanley Donen. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman on adjacent title cards is all you should need to watch the movie. Although I came for an entirely different name because this past spring we lost Stanley Donen — the last remnant...   read more